The Geelong Library and Heritage Centre renovation was an ambitious project with a myriad of different factors to consider when planning. What emerged is a vast, dome-like structure that refers to the traditional, while keeping an eye to the future.

“Our inspiration for the form comes from a number of streams: the tradition of the great reading rooms and the great libraries,” introduces ARM Architecture director Ian McDougall. “There’s a whole history of public buildings in Victoria from the 19th and early 20th century, all identified with the dome as a civic marker”